Rock and coal dust determining cabinet



May 26, 1925.

A. c. FIELDNER ROCK AND COAL DUST DETERMINING CABINET Filed July 18, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WITNESSESS 1,539,657 A. c. FIELDNER RocK AND COAL nus-r DETERMINING CABINET Filed y 1924 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 26, 1925.

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Patented May 26, 1925.

ARNO CARL rIEImNE-R, or rI'rrsBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROCK AND COAL nusr DETERMINING cABINET.

Application filed July 18, 1924. Serial No. 726,884.

T 0 all whom it may concemu Be it known that I, ARNO CARL FIELDNER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful improvement in Rock and Coal Dust Determining Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

The hazards accompanying mining due to explosions propagated by the presence of coal dust have given rise to several methods of treatment of the coal dust in the mine so as to render it difficult to ignite and thus prevent the propagation of explosions from this cause. After numerous experiments, the most promising method has proved to be that of intermingling stone dust with the coal dust lodged on the roof, ribs and floor of the roadways and passageways throughout the mine so that the coal dust is rendered incapable of initiating an explosion. It has been found that by intermingling not less than about fifty percent of finely divided rock dust, such as limestone or shale, or other similar inert non combustible material with the coal dust in the mine, explosions from this cause are practically entirely eliminated. In fact, in several localities in both Europe and the United States such treatment has completely supplanted previously used methods.

Apparatus especially constructed for distributing the non-combustible dust in the manner set forth has been devised, and forms the subject of an application of Thomas G. Fear, Serial No. 727,143, filed July 21, 1924.

It is apparent that to avoid the use of an excessive quantity of the non-combustible dust injected into the mine, while at the same time assuring a sufiicient amount thereof to positively reclude danger from explosions, a careful check must be kept on the relative proportions of the non-combustible and combustible dusts present after treatment. Outfits have been proposed for this purpose including means for preparing suitable samples, together with means for determining therelative proportions of the two dusts. rock dust and coal dust. A method of testing, as well as one of the pre viously used outfits employed for this purpose. is clearly and fully set forth in Technical Paper 14% of the Bureau of Mines,

entitled Quick determination of incom bustible matter in coal and rock-dust mixtures in mines, one of the oint authors of which is the present applicant. Thls invention relates to a rock and coal dust determining cabinet, adapted to be used both for transporting the several parts of a testing outfit of the character referred to, and serving when in open condition as a conveniently arranged supporting table during the testing operation.

It is an object of the invention to provid a cabinet which is simple in construction, compact, readily convertible from a carrymg case to a work table, one having supporting shelves adjacent the top of the cabinet of less width than the width of the cabinet and arranged in stepped relation whereby to support articles which may extend upwardly above the top of the cabinet and without interfering with the ready handling of the articles on the different shelves, one equipped with a depressed housing tray or drawer which maybe readily inserted or removed without disturbing the contents thereof, one, in which the entire front of the cabinet is bodily removable and adapted to cooperate with the sidesand bottom of the cabinet after removal to form an additional supporting shelf but when in operative position to form the front wall of the cabinet will be effectively locked against displacement by cooperating with the hinged top of the cabinet.

These and other objects of the invention will more fully appear when taken in con' junction with the following description and the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the cabinet in closed condition forming a carrying case in which to readily transport the various parts of the testing apparatus from place to place; Fig. 2 a transverse verticalsectional view showing the relative arrangement of the several partitions, compartments and tray within the cabinet, all parts of the test ing apparatus being removed. for the sake of clearness; Fig. 3 a perspective view illus trating the cabinet when in open condition, with the bodily removable front wall positioned to form the additional auxiliary sup porting shelf and with the various parts of the testing apparatus arranged upon the several shelves; and F ig. {la perspectiveview illustrating the removable tray for holding some of the parts removed the cabinet and resting upon one end in'the manner in.

which it is customarily positioned to dispose the parts carried thereby at a convenient location and to render them immediately available for use during the carrying out of the test. 7

As illustrated in the drawings, the cabinet comprises a rectangular carrying case having four vertical side walls indicated at 1, 1, 2 and 3, respectively, a bottom 4:, and a top indicated generally at 5. For convenience in carrying, the top 5 is equipped with the handle 6 of a well known construction which may be readily gripped by the hands. Fitted within the interior of the case in spaced relation to each other are the horizontal partitions 6 and 7. Both of these partitions are suitably connected to the rear wall 2 and to the oppositely disposed'side walls 1, 1', bridging the entire distance between vthewalls 1, 1, but terminating at a short distance from the front edges thereof adjacent the front wall 3, for a purpose to be described subsequently more in detail.

superposed upon the horizontal partition 6 adjacent the rear'wall 2 is a compartment indicated generally at 8, the top 9 of which forms a partition constituting a raised shelf constituting a'weighing table which terminates considerably short of the forward edge of the partition 6 whereby to leave the entire forward portion of the partition 6 in ad vance of the front wall 10 of the compartment 8 constituting a testing apparatus holding table freely exposed thereabove. The shelf formed by the top 9 is disposed entirely be low the upper edges of the side walls 1, 1, 2, 3, and is itself freely exposed throughout.

The top 5 of the case consists of the end member 11 to which the handle 6 is attached,

and the depending portions 12, 12', 12 and 12', which are adapted to seat upon the upper edges of the respective side walls of the case when the top is moved to its closed position, as illustrated in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

The upper edges of the vertical side walls of the case terminate in the same horizontal plane, and are equipped with centrally disposed raised ribs which cooperate with complementary grooves formed in the lower edges of the depending :portions of the'top when the top is'moved to closed position. The raised ribs of the side walls 1 and 1, are indicated at 13 and 13', respectively, while the raised ribs on the walls 2 and 3 are shown at 14: and 15. The lower edge of themember 12 is provided with a complementary groove which receives the rib 1 1, while the corresponding grooves formed in the remaining members of the top 5 are indicated at 16, 16 and 16", respectively, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The depending member 12 of the top is hingedly connected to the rear wall 2 adjacent the upper edge thereof as shown at 17, and complementary portions of a lock are mounted upon the depending member 12 and the upper edge of the front wall 3, as indicated at 18 and 19, respectively, this look being adapted to be actuated by means of an ordinary key 20 cooperating with the usual key slot shown at 21.

The front wall 3 is bodily removable from r the remaining side walls of the case. In order to render it removable, while at the same time adapting it for operative connection with the oppositely disposed side 'walls 1 1 to form a closed case as illus- 7 trated in Figs. 1 and 2, the opposite sides of the front wall 3 are equipped with the depressed grooves 20, 20, which are adapted 'to cooperate with the vertically disposed raised ribs 21 and 21, formed upon the inner faces of the walls 1 and '1, respectively.

,These ribs 21 and 21 extend inwardly, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, may be corresponding to the ribs 21' and 21 may be provided at points adjacent the bottom 41, such as indicated at 22 and 22, the supplemental ribs being disposed in alignment with the main ribs and engaging the grooves 20 and 20 in an obvious manner.

The'width of the front wall 3 is such that it completely bridges the space between the oppositely disposed side walls 1, 1, so that when the front wall 3 is placed in a vertical position with the grooves thereof engaging the cooperating ribs on the oppositely disposed side walls and moved home, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the front wall entirely closes the forward portion of the case. Due to the removable feature of the front wall 3, and because of its relative dimensions, as described above, the front wall upon removal thereof, which is easily effected by merely sliding the same bodily upwards after raising the top 5, the same is adapted to slidingly lit within the case in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. In this position, the front wall rests upon the bottom 1. The height of the front wall 3 is somewhat greater than the distance between the front and rear of the case, therefore when the wall 3 is placed as shown in Fig.- 3, it forms an auxiliary supporting shelf projecting beyond the front of the cabinet.

Attached to the sidewalls 1 and 1 at a point between the horizontal partition 7 and the bottom 4: are a pair of inwardly rojecting ribs 23, 23 which are adapte to cooperate with a pair of complementary grooves 24, 24, formed in the opposite sides of a sliding tray indicated generally at 25. This tray is of a well known construction, illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, is of such dimensions that it completely bridges the space between the vertical side walls 1 and l, terminates when moved completely home within the cabinet at a point corresponding to the forward edge of the partition 7, and the parts are relatively disposed so that the partition 7 serves as a closure for the tray, in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

The tray is equipped at one side thereof with a supplemental raised bottom 26 provided with recesses, such as indicated at 27, and a plurality of spring retaining clips such as shown at 28 for holding portions of the testing apparatus in place when not in use, and the main bottom of the tray is equipped with a pair of spring clips 29 for holding the flasks 30, 30 of the testing apparatus. A pair of spring clips indicated at 31, and corresponding; to the clips 29 are also anchored to the horizontal partition 6 at one side thereof for holding the flasks during the making of the tests.

Any suitable means may be attached to the hinged top 6 for holding it in elevated position when desired, the means illustrated in the drawings comprising a toothed rack 32 pivotally attached to the end member 11 as at 33, the toothed portion of the rack eX- tending through an aperture in the top of the compartment 8 and cooperating with a plate shown at 34.

Associated with the compartment 8 is a weighing scale or balance having the usual pans shown at 35 and 36, and the setting of the scale or balance is accomplished through the usual adjusting knob desig nated at 37 and projecting forwardly of the front wall 10 of the campartment. The relative dimensions of the depending por tions of the top 5 and the portions of the scale or balance which project above the shelf 9 are such that the latter are conveniently housed within the top when it is moved to closed position.

Besides the portions of the apparatus for referred to,

carrying out tl.e test, already the same comprises a pair lumeter tubes 40, 40, a pair of pipettes 41, 41, a pair of funnels 42, 42, a series of nested screens shown at 43, 43, 43 and 43, a set of weights or counterpoises 44, a pack of filter papers 45, and the usual auxiliary implements for handling the material such as a small brush, scoop, spatula, etc., some of which are illustrated at 46 in the drawings.

The screens 43 to 43 are constructed to separate the various sized particlesconstituting the dust, and may be used both in preparing the sample to be tested for of calibrated vodetermining the relative quantities of various sized particles in the dust originally furnished for distribution by distributingapparatus such as disclosed in the application of Thomas G. Fear, previously mentioned. The weighing scale or balance is also of such size as to adapt it for handling suiticient quantities for both purposes. Ordinarily, in making a test of the mixed dusts taken from the mine, all of the sample should pass through a 10-mesh screen.

Since the methodof using the various parts of the testing apparatus in earring out the method of determining the relative proportions of the non-combustible and combustible dusts contained in the samples taken from the mine is clearly set forth in Technical Paper 144 of the Bureau of Mines, above referred to, it need not be set forth here in detail, except in so far as the cabinet lends itself to a more convenient and advantageous use of the testing apparatus employed.

It is obvious from an inspection of the drawings that the several parts of the apparatus are properly arranged within the several retaining clips and between the compartments formed by the several partitions so as to safely house all of the apparatus within the cabinet when it is in closed condition, such as shown in Fig. l,and that upon reaching the place at which the samples of dust are to be taken, the cabinet is opened, disassembled and arranged in the manner shown in Fig. 3, with the front wall 3 positioned so as to form a supporting shelf, and with the removed tray shown in Fig. 4 placed upon end as shown in said figure convenient to thecarrying case so as to render the parts attached thereto readily available for use.

The cabinet as arranged in Fig. of the drawings forms a convenient work table upon which the entire test may be run at any desirable point within the mine, the portion of the horizontal partition 6 projecting forwardly of the front wall 10 of the compartment 8 forming a freely exposed shelf throughout its extent, and which is un obstructed thereabove providing a convenient means for positioning the flasks 30 and 30 with the voluineter tubes fitting therein in the manner shown in Fig. 3. Due to the relative positioning of the shelves formed b the top 9 shelf formed by the forward exposed portion of the horizontal partition 6 in stepped relation, the weighing scale may be c0nveniently used without inconvenience from the various articles placed upon the shelf 6, and the forwardly projecting portion of the front wall 3 extending beyond the front of the case also forms an additional auxiliaiflv shelf for holding several of the parts of the testing apparatus during the test.

of the compartment 8 and the terminating short After the tests have been run, the parts of the apparatus are then repacked, as above described, the front wall 3 again positioned, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the top 5 swung to its closed position and locked in place by means of the key 20. Contact of the top 5 with the upper edge of the front wall 3, when the case is closed, effectively prevents removal of the front wall after the lock has been moved to its locked condition, as will be obvious. lVith the cabinet closed and looked the same forms a convenient carrying case for transporting the entire apparatus. 7

Although the cabinet has been especially designed as a combined carrying case and transformable work table for running tests in the mine itself, it is obvious that the invention provides an effective apparatus for running tests at any convenient location, whether in the mine or at any other suitable point.

I claim:

1. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a case having a plurality of vertical side walls, a bottom and a top, and a pair of horizontal partitions disposed between the said walls, the upper partition of said pair constituting a weighing table terminating short of the lower partition, and the projecting portion of the lower parti tion constituting a testing apparatus holding table freely exposed thereabove throughout its entire extent.

2. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a case having a plurality of vertical side walls, a bottom and a top, a horizontal partition disposed between said walls, a compartment the top of which forms a weighing table superposed on said partition adjacent the rear wall of the case and of the front edge thereof whereby to leave the forward portion of the artition serving as a testing apparatus holding table freely exposed thereabove.

3. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a case having a plurality of verticalside walls, a bottom and a top, a horizontal partition disposed between said walls, a compartment superposed on said partition adjacent the rear wall of the case and terminating short of the front edge thereof whereby to leave the forward portion of the'partition freely exposed thereabove, the top of saidcompartment being.

horizontally disposed and constituting a raised shelf rearwardly of the shelf formed by the forwardly projecting portion of said partition.

4. A rock and cabinet comprising a case ity of vertical side walls, a bottom and a top, a horizontal partition disposed between said walls, a compartment superposed on said partition adjacent the rear wall of the coal dust determining having a pluralcase and terminating short of the front edge thereof whereby to leave the forward portion of the partition freely exposed thereabove, a weighing scale associated with said compartment, and testing apparatus hold ing devices fixed to the exposed portion of said partition.

5. A rock and coal vertical side walls, a bottom and a top, one of said vertical side walls being bodily removable from the remaining fwalls and adapted when removed to slidingly fit between the remaining side walls to form an auxiliary supporting shelf. 7 r

6. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising acase having a plurality of vertical side walls, a bottomand a top, one of said vertical side walls being bodily removable from the remaining walls and and adapted when removed to slidingly fit between the remaining side walls to form an auxiliary supporting shelf, the dimensions of said removable drawer being greater than.

those of said bottom whereby to provide a forwardly extending auxiliary shelf projectinqbeyond the sides of the cabinet.

A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a rectangular case having four vertical side walls, a bottom, and a top, the vertical side wall. forming the front of the case normally bridging the space between two. of the oppositely disposed remaining vertical side walls but bodily removable therefrom, the said front wall upon removal being adapted to horizontally slide within the space between the two oppositely disposed side walls, the height of the said front wall being greater than the distance between the front and rear walls of the case whereby to provide a shelf projecting forwardly of the front of the cabinet when the said front wall is horizontally positioned as described. V

8. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a rectangular 'case having four vertical side walls, a bottom, and a top, the vertical side wall forming the front of the case normally bridging the space between two of the oppositely disposed remaining vertical side walls but bodily removable therefrom, the upper edges, of all of the said side walls terminating in substantially'the same plane, the front wall normally being operatively connected with two of the oppositely disposed remaining vertical side walls and bridging the, space therebetween but bodily removable therefrom, said top when in closed position contacting the upper edge of said front wall to hold it in place. I

9. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a rectangular case'having four vertical side walls, a bottom, and a top, the vertical side wall forming the front of dust determining cabi- 7 net comprislng a case having a plurality of the case normally bridging the space between two of the oppositely disposed remaining vertical side walls but bodily re movable therefrom, the upper edges of all of the said side walls terminating in substantially the same plane, the front wall normally being operatively connected with two of the oppositely disposed remaining vertical side walls and bridging the space therebetween but bodily removable therefrom, said top being hinged for swinging movement to the rear side wall opposite said front Wall and adapted to contact the upper edge of the front wall when in closed position, and means for locking the top to said front wall.

10. A rock and coal cabinet comprising a case having a plurality of vertical side walls, a bottom and a top, one of said side walls forming the front of the case, a horizontal partition carried by said walls but disconnected from said front wall, said front wall being bodily removable from the case and normally bridging the space between two of the remaining side walls, said top when in closed position operatively engaging the upper edges of all of said side walls and adapted to hold dust determining the removable front wall against displacement.

11. A rock and coal dust determining cabinet comprising a rectangular case hav ing four vertical side Walls, a bottom and a top, one of said side walls forming the front of the case, a horizontal partition carried by said side walls but terminating short of the edges thereof adjacent the front Wall, a compartment superposed on said partition and located at one side thereof and disposed below the upper edges of the side Walls, said front wall bridgingthe space between two of the oppositely disposed remaining side walls in advance of the said partition, said front wall being normally operatively connected to said oppositely disposed side walls but bodily removable from the case upon sliding movement in a vertical direction, said top being hingedly connected to the rear side wall and adapted to contact the upper edge of said front wall when in closed position to prevent removal thereof.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

ARNO CARL FIELDNER. Witness:

EDWIN O. JOHNS. 

